Banish the winter blues

When sunshine is scant during winter, many people report feeling depressed, with symptoms of moodiness, lethargy, short attention span and increased appetite.

The condition, known as seasonal affective disorder (SAD), is most common in northern European countries, where winter days are noticeably short.

While experts say SAD is not as prevalent in WA, which boasts prolific blue skies and relatively moderate temperatures all year round, many people still report feeling more down during winter.

Perth psychiatrist Paul Skerritt says there are many cycles that are known to affect the course of depressive illness.

“The most common and obvious one that people relate to is the menstrual cycle, which causes problems for many or most women who feel down or cranky at particular times of the month,” he said.

“Women who have a mood disorder will also notice that is also the worst time, their condition feels worse and they are feeling something additional to menstrual tension.”

He said doctors had known for some time that people with depressive illnesses were affected by annual cycles too.

“There have always been people who have noticed that their illness is worse at certain times of the year, and classically these have times have mostly been at the change of season.”

Dr Skerritt said Scandinavian research had shown a close link between depressive disorders and the onset of winter, or shorter days and less exposure to sunlight.

He said there were some studies that suggested an increase in depressive illnesses related to seasonal change in Australia, even though the difference in seasons was not as pronounced.

“There are definitely people in Australia who go down during winter and get better in the summer,” he said.

He said there were still many things the medical profession did not understand about the function of the brain and details of the systematic process of depression during winter fell into that category.

“The speculative cause of the problem is that the pineal gland, which is buried deep down under the brain, is somehow involved in the regulation of mood in ways that are not yet clear,” he said.

“We suspect that there are probably signals that go through the eyes to the pineal gland and somehow these are involved in a neurological loops that control mood.”

The pineal gland produces a sleep-regulating hormone known as melatonin. The production of melatonin is inhibited by exposure to light, so it is possible that these levels increase during winter when there is less light.

Watch the video on speaking to your doctor about depression, see more below

Dr Skerritt said making good lifestyle decisions related to sleep, exercise and diet could help relieve mild feelings of seasonal depression.

“In someone with a more serious problem, other forms of treatment will have a bigger impact but there would be benefits to eating well, getting plenty of sleep and exercising.”

Anyone who consistently woke up with a low mood should probably visit their GP for a check-up because feeling worse during the morning was a classic sign of depression.

“Sometimes that can be an indicator of a more serious illness and it not something you should brush off. Unfortunately that is a characteristic of depression,” he said.

Curtin University psychology expert Peter McEvoy said people often reported having a low mood when they had been less active and had made bad decisions around diet.

“In winter in general we seem to be less likely to exercise and more likely to over-indulge in fatty foods and there may very well be an evolutionary link to that behaviour, because it makes sense that at some point it was a good idea to slow down and conserve energy during the cooler months,” Associate Professor McEvoy said.

“Even though West Australian winters are quite moderate, for many of us it is still dark when it is time to get up and go to work and by the time we are coming home the sun is starting to set and that is going to have an impact on mood.”

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, more than four million Australian adults also have a vitamin D deficiency, caused by lack of exposure to sunlight.

Not surprisingly, the problem is greatest during the winter months.

ABS health statistics director Louise Gates said that while the rate of vitamin D deficiency was relatively high, only very few people were severely deficient and overall rates were lower in sunny parts of the country such as WA.

But the problem was still cause for concern for some people.

“We know that vitamin D is essential for the body to absorb calcium effectively, which is important for bone health and muscle function,” she said. “A severe vitamin D deficiency can lead to brittle and fragile bones.

“Although we found that around one in every four Australian adults, or 23 per cent, had a vitamin D deficiency, the good news was that most of these people had a mild deficiency or a moderate deficiency, with less than one per cent having a severe deficiency.”

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